Tears, apples and travel blankets: Rescued chimps leave troubled California refuge for new home in Tennessee
This content was published on October 2, 2017 4:00 PMOct 2, 2017 – 04:00
Natalie Wainwright
Tears, apples and travel blankets: Rescued chimps leave troubled California refuge for new home in Tennessee
Pam, her two babies and partner Choo Choo are all smiles on their return to the Cincinnati Zoo after a turbulent period.
It was the third time the trio had been separated by human interference at the National Zoo since 2015 – the first time they have been in separate enclosures for more than a week.
Pam and Choo Choo (R) left the zoo in California in May 2016, but Pam was later found to have a contagious disease that needed to be treated in quarantine. This has been the fourth time Pam, her two babies and Choo Choo were moved. (Natalie Wainwright)
More than a year has passed since the trio had been left apart. But on Friday, they got out of their cramped caged enclosures and into a familiar routine in a new home more than three-quarters of the world away.
Pam, her two babies and Choo Choo left their California perch in May to spend more days together. This is the fourth time that Pam and her new family have been apart.
Their four-week stay in the Tennessee zoo was arranged by the Animal Behavior Society, which works to protect wildlife. Choo Choo will join his other friends and family in captivity in Chattanooga, Tenn., while Pam and the kids will live on the zoo’s grounds.
Pam, the eldest of four chimps, has been known to her family as “Old Granny”. She has developed a close bond with a second captive partner named Choo Choo, a female named Pup and a baby called Tango.
When they were brought to Tennessee, Pam, Choo Choo
